Brewers Title Lands as Owners Push Salary Cap Before Dec. 2 Lockout
Milwaukee won the World Series 4-1 over Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, hours before a likely management lockout could halt play.
By Natalia Costa ·
The Milwaukee Brewers delivered their first World Series title to a fan base in a market where owners argue small payrolls cannot sustain success. Milwaukee ranked 19th in payroll as of Aug. 31, and Tampa Bay ranked 25th. The Series was the first since 1991 to feature two teams in the bottom half of payroll rankings. The Brewers beat the Rays 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
The title arrived hours before a likely management lockout scheduled to begin Dec. 2, which could threaten the 2027 season. Owners are pressing the players' association for a salary cap, arguing that small-market clubs cannot compete regularly without one. The Rays, an expansion franchise that began play in 1998, fell to 0-3 in World Series appearances after losses in 2008 and 2020.
The franchise began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee the following year. Its only other championship in the market came from the Braves in 1957, before that club moved to Atlanta in 1966. Milwaukee's previous World Series appearance came in 1982, when the Brewers held a 3-1 lead in Game 7 before losing 6-3 to St. Louis.
The 2026 regular season produced 103 wins for Milwaukee, the most in the majors. The Brewers went 11-2 in the postseason with seven comeback victories and swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. In Game 4, Milwaukee led 3-1 in the 12th inning before losing 4-3.
Jacob Misiorowski started Game 5 on four days' rest for the fifth time in 34 starts this season, including the playoffs. The 22-year-old threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up two hits on 86 pitches, 58 of them strikes. He left the game with a right calf cramp and received a standing ovation from Brewers fans seated behind Milwaukee's dugout for the last three games. He opened the Series on Oct. 23 with a 103.5 mph fastball, a Series record, and finished 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA across the matchup.
Cooper Pratt singled in the second inning to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead off Drew Rasmussen. Pratt added an RBI single in the fifth and a sacrifice fly in the sixth, finishing the Series with six consecutive hits, a rookie record. Jackson Chourio collected 11 hits across the five games, a Series record for a five-game span. William Contreras hit an RBI double in the sixth.
Trevor Megill pitched the final two innings and allowed an RBI double to Chandler Simpson with two outs in the ninth. He retired Richie Palacios on a grounder to second to end the game. The Brewers scored 32.1% of their runs on home runs during the regular season, the lowest share in the majors, with Tampa Bay second-lowest at 34.4%, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The teams combined for four home runs in the Series, three of them by Milwaukee.
Manager Pat Murphy, 67, took over the club after surviving a heart attack in 2020 and won NL Manager of the Year in 2024 and 2025. The Brewers' only previous championship in Milwaukee came from the 1957 Braves. The club's 1982 team, known as Harvey's Wallbangers under manager Harvey Kuenn, featured Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers, though Fingers missed the postseason with a forearm injury.
